Martha Stewart

Thursday

Peter Hoskin

The vanished glamour of New York nightlife

Mark Ronson has one of the finest heads of hair in all showbusiness. The music producer’s coiffure is a dark, whipped and quiffed thing that makes it look as though he naturally belongs on a Vespa in Capri, being ogled by the belle ragazze as he scoots on by. As a cultural object, it certainly surpasses the Oscar he won for the songs in that Lady Gaga remake of A Star is Born; it probably equals his Barbie soundtrack; and maybe even approaches the hits he made with and for Amy Winehouse. But it wasn’t always like that. Back in the 1990s, Ronson’s hair was a standard-issue crop, while he was a gawky young club DJ looking to make it in New York. It’s this scene that he writes about in his memoir Night People, not the fame and accolades that would follow.

Wednesday

Amber Duke

Was Martha Stewart the OG trad wife?

From our US edition

Homemaker extraordinaire Martha Stewart has a fascinating new documentary about her life out on Netflix. The nearly two-hour film features narration from Martha herself about her childhood, her rise to fame, her marriage and the insider trading case that nearly destroyed her career. It’s worth a watch if you’re trying to get inspired ahead of your Thanksgiving celebrations tomorrow or if you just want to better understand the mindset of the perfection-driven television, magazine and homeware mogul. As I watched the documentary, though, I was mostly surprised at the parallels between the societal perception of Martha’s homemaking skills at the height or her popularity and the modern discourse about “tradwives.

Monday

Jane Stannus

A load of old crêpes

From our US edition

Eat crêpes on Candlemas, enjoy a year of happiness, says a traditional French-Canadian proverb. Happiness isn’t as easy as eating crêpes on February 2, the cynics will sneer — but then, the cynics haven’t tried dark chocolate crêpe cake filled with hazelnut cream and garnished with golden spikes of candied hazelnut as per Martha Stewart’s show-stopping recipe, have they? Of course they haven’t. Cynics don’t like sweets. But if you can trap a couple (good choices for bait include arugula, dandelion greens and Allen’s double-strength cleaning vinegar) and force-feed them chocolate crêpe cake, you’ll see the cynicism melting away like snow in April.

Crêpes